Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see RELX PLC (LON:REL) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 4 days. The ex-dividend date is two business days before a company's record date in most cases, which is the date on which the company determines which shareholders are entitled to receive a dividend. The ex-dividend date is important as the process of settlement involves at least two full business days. So if you miss that date, you would not show up on the company's books on the record date. Meaning, you will need to purchase RELX's shares before the 7th of August to receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 11th of September.

The company's next dividend payment will be UK£0.195 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of UK£0.63 per share. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that RELX has a trailing yield of 1.6% on the current share price of UK£38.89. We love seeing companies pay a dividend, but it's also important to be sure that laying the golden eggs isn't going to kill our golden goose! So we need to investigate whether RELX can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.

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Dividends are usually paid out of company profits, so if a company pays out more than it earned then its dividend is usually at greater risk of being cut. RELX paid out more than half (62%) of its earnings last year, which is a regular payout ratio for most companies. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether RELX generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. It paid out more than half (52%) of its free cash flow in the past year, which is within an average range for most companies.

It's encouraging to see that the dividend is covered by both profit and cash flow. This generally suggests the dividend is sustainable, as long as earnings don't drop precipitously.

View our latest analysis for RELX

Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.LSE:REL Historic Dividend August 2nd 2025

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Businesses with strong growth prospects usually make the best dividend payers, because it's easier to grow dividends when earnings per share are improving. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. With that in mind, we're encouraged by the steady growth at RELX, with earnings per share up 6.3% on average over the last five years. While earnings have been growing at a credible rate, the company is paying out a majority of its earnings to shareholders. If management lifts the payout ratio further, we'd take this as a tacit signal that the company's growth prospects are slowing.

Story Continues

Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. In the last 10 years, RELX has lifted its dividend by approximately 9.3% a year on average. We're glad to see dividends rising alongside earnings over a number of years, which may be a sign the company intends to share the growth with shareholders.

Final Takeaway

Has RELX got what it takes to maintain its dividend payments? Earnings per share have been growing modestly and RELX paid out a bit over half of its earnings and free cash flow last year. In summary, while it has some positive characteristics, we're not inclined to race out and buy RELX today.

However if you're still interested in RELX as a potential investment, you should definitely consider some of the risks involved with RELX. For example - RELX has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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